K-16 -- The Rotor Wash Café Dining Facility on K-16 competed in the Phillip A. Connelly Competition to be identified as the best dining facility in the United States Army, June 11.
Co-sponsored by the International Food Service Executives Association (IFSEA) and the Department of the Army, the Philip A. Connelly Program is designed to promote and improve Army food service through awareness with incentives, competition and media attention.
"This is a competition that determines the overall best dining facility in the Army," said Sgt. 1st Class Jesse King III, dining facility manager 2-2 Assault Battalion. "The most important thing when running the dining facility like this is command support. As cooks, we are going to do our job regardless, wherever we are in the field or garrison. What separates you from the rest is how much the command supports you, and here we have excellent command support."
Judges scrutinized every corner of the dining facility to check hygienic condition, inventory checklists, and generally how the dining facility operates. As the lunch time drew near, soldiers were busy preparing various foods, organizing dishes and cleaning the spaces. Their efforts, cooking knowledge and their attitude were all evaluated.
Chief Warrant Officer Kim Hye-soo, Eighth Army command food advisor, came to the dining facility for the competition evaluation.
"Some of the standards considered in the competitions are daily operation, sanitation, administration, attitudes of the soldiers, their knowledge and the inventory," Kim said. "As you can see, you might mistakenly think a dining facility is just a place for cooking meals, but it does a broad spectrum of work, more than it appears. I think the K-16 dining facility looks competent in this year's competition."
King explained that the attitude of the soldiers working for the dining facility can be a deciding factor in the competition and expressed his gratitude for their diligent efforts to make their facility even better.
"We are a small community, so we have few soldiers. But most importantly, they are eager to learn and willing to do their duty. It is a competition of excellence, checking how much we adhere to the policies, to DOD nutrition standards and food service procedures, which I believe our soldiers are doing well."
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